The key making art has taught us that each lock manufacturer has adopted a number of different key blanks, each with its own unique shape and specific groove characteristics. Furthermore, for each key blank its manufacturer has assigned one or more known key cut codes that define the manner in which the key blank can be cut to match the manufacturer's lock.
There are several thousand types of key blanks in the world. When a key is presented to be duplicated by a locksmith, he must be skilled at looking, inspecting, and measuring the customer's key (object key) to determine which key blank it is among the thousands made, and he must also be skilled at trace cutting the notches (cuts or bits) of the customer's key into a correctly identified key blank. If the wrong key blank is chosen, then it will not operate in the customer's lock. Also, if the key cuts are not traced precisely, then the new key will not work in the lock.
The traditional method of key identification is to inspect the handle (bow) and any stamping, the grooves, and the length. What has not been done, is to measure the cuts in a key, and then compare this information to the grooves and/or outer shape to determine the type of key blank.
For each key with an elongated blade and a handle, the blade has longitudinal grooves determined by the manufacturer to match its locks. Notches are cut into at least one side of the blade. The handle normally has a hole disposed along the longitudinal centerline which is adapted to allow the key to be used on a key ring. The grooves of a key begin at the point that the blade extends from the handle.
The manufacturer's key cut codes define the relationship between the cuts and key blank, and between one cut and another. The following characteristics (attributes) are representative: (1) the distance from the key shoulder to the center of the first cut; (2) the distance between cuts, i.e. the distance being measured from the center of one cut to the center of an adjacent cut; (3) the depth of each cut; (4) the angle of each cut; (5) the length of the flat at the bottom of each cut; (6) the distance between the tip and key shoulder; and (7) the distance from the key shoulder to the center of the first cut. Once attributes, such as key outer shape, groove characteristics, and key cut features of an object key can be extracted, recognized, and compared to that which was supplied by an original key manufacturer, a new key duplicating the original can be automatically selected and cut.
Since the shape of the blade, grooves and key cut codes define the functional features of a key, this is the information that must be identified and utilized to make a proper key. In other words, if the shape of the blade, key cut codes, or grooves are wrong, the key will not operate the lock. Even though the handle may be different, if the shape of the blade, codes, and grooves are correct, it will still operate the lock.
Various types of key making machines currently exist which identify and utilize a key manufacturer's coding to duplicate a customer's key. However, none of the following patents teaches a method or apparatus that extracts key cut codes of an object key absent some means of physically making referential contact with the object key. Nor do the patents discussed disclose a method or apparatus that extracts the aforementioned key attributes without physically making referential contact with the key.
Earlier methods and apparatuses for automatic key making required skill on the part of an operator to fixture the object key in some fashion and to have some special knowledge of key blanks with some kind of training. Moreover, the prior art methods to decode keys required instruments and gadgets that only locksmiths would be familiar with.
The important invention disclosed herein is designed to be operated by an inexperienced customer who possesses neither the skills of a trained locksmith nor those of a skilled imaging operator.
Moreover, deficiencies in the prior art relating to proper sizing of the object key, elimination of distortions and surface flaws, and the need to mechanically fixture the object key have not been remedied by the art disclosed.
No other device for automatically making keys has disclosed a non-contact means for extracting laterally exposed attributes, comprising three dimensional grooves, outer shape and laterally exposed key cuts, of an object key. Nor has the prior art taught a key making apparatus or method that automatically establishes an operative positional relationship between an object key and the key making machine without pre-fixturing the object key in a vice or some other holding device.
To alleviate these problems, and others which will become apparent from the disclosure which follows, the present invention provides a key making apparatus that automatically determines the initial relative orientation of an object key relative to the components of the apparatus that extract information from an object key, extracts the attribute information necessary for it to determine the correct key blank and the correct key cut codes and a method of automatically cutting the correct codes in to a key blank despite any deficiencies in the codes of the object key.
Attribute information is extracted by the instant apparatus automatically reading an object key and comparing the attributes of the object key with a master pattern memory of known manufacturers' keys. Then it selects the proper matching key blank and cuts it to the original key cut codes established by the manufacturer. Alternatively, the key blank can be trace-cut, duplicating the used attributes of the object key. Alternatively, key cuts hybridizing the key cut features of the object key and the key cut codes of a known manufacturer's key may be determined for use with the corresponding key blank.